Wednesday, May 16, 2007

'Survivor's' ratings keep dropping

The long-running CBS reality show isn't immune to the networks' general malaise.

From Times wire reports

May 16, 2007

Eating bugs, stabbing fish with a makeshift spear and tropical island backstabbing appear to be losing their appeal for "Survivor" fans.

The long-running CBS game isn't immune to the general malaise affecting network TV this spring, as only 13.6 million people watched Sunday as California advertising executive Earl Cole unanimously won the Fiji edition, according to Nielsen Media Research.

That's down 17% from the 16.4 million people who watched the end of the previous edition in December. Last spring's finale had 17.1 million viewers, Nielsen said.

It illustrates how long it has been since the first "Survivor" in the summer of 2000 electrified fans and drew 51.6 million people to its conclusion. The latest game was the 14th "Survivor" edition.

CBS notes, however, that "Survivor" consistently wins its time slot against a hot new hit, ABC's "Ugly Betty," and NBC's "My Name Is Earl."

Even television's May sweeps, usually a season's climax, can't seem to get viewers excited. Only the two "American Idol" episodes and "House" on Fox brought in more than 20 million viewers last week, Nielsen said. ABC's "Desperate Housewives" slipped to 16.1 million viewers.

The veteran CBS comedy "King of Queens" went out with a small wave of nostalgia, however. It was the most-watched sitcom on the air last week, and the 13.4 million who watched this Monday's finale was its biggest audience since 2003.

CBS was the nation's most popular network last week, averaging 11.3 million viewers in prime time. Fox had 10.2 million and won among viewers ages 18 to 49, a coveted demographic.

The week's only premiere, the ABC drama "Traveler," was 38th for the week and third in its Thursday 10-11 p.m. time slot with 8.6 million viewers. Viewership dropped 19% from the first half-hour to the second.

For the sixth consecutive week, HBO's "The Sopranos" was cable's most-watched show of the week, with 6.49 million viewers for its first airing Sunday, which would have put it 56th among the programs on the five major broadcast networks.

ABC's "World News" won the evening news ratings race, averaging 7.9 million viewers. NBC's "Nightly News" had 7.2 million viewers and the "CBS Evening News" was third for the 33rd consecutive week, with 6.1 million viewers.

Prime-time TV rankings

Here are the rankings for national prime-time network television last week (May 7-13) as compiled by Nielsen Media Research. They are based on the average number of people who watched a program from start to finish. Nielsen estimates there are 283.5 million potential viewers in the U.S. ages 2 and older. Viewership is listed in millions.

Program

Network

Viewers

1

American Idol (Wed.)

FOX

28.20

2

American Idol (Tue.)

FOX

25.47

3

House (Tue.)

FOX

21.36

4

Grey's Anatomy (Thu.)

ABC

19.58

5

Dancing With the Stars (Mon.)

ABC

19.44

6

CSI

CBS

18.75

7

CSI: Miami

CBS

17.18

8

Dancing With the Stars (Tue.)

ABC

16.86

9

Desperate Housewives

ABC

16.13

10

Without a Trace (Thu.)

CBS

14.31

11

NCIS

CBS

13.88

12

Survivor: Fiji

CBS

13.76

13

Survivor: Fiji Finale

CBS

13.63

14

King of Queens

CBS

13.42

15

Two and a Half Men

CBS

13.27

16

Criminal Minds

CBS

12.92

17

CSI: NY

CBS

12.83

18

Lost

ABC

12.11

19

Brothers & Sisters

ABC

11.61

20

"Survivor: Fiji Reunion"

CBS

11.43

21

Heroes

NBC

11.14

22

Law & Order: SVU (Tue.)

NBC

10.94

23

24

FOX

10.92

24

The Unit

CBS

10.74

25

Deal or No Deal (Mon.)

NBC

10.43

26

The Bachelor: An Officer and a Gentleman

ABC

10.38

27

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

ABC

10.35

28

Close to Home

CBS

10.27

29

Bones

FOX

10.23

30

Numb3rs

CBS

10.03

31

Boston Legal

ABC

9.98

32

Ugly Betty

ABC

9.63

33

60 Minutes

CBS

9.50

34

E.R.

NBC

9.39

35

Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? (8 p.m.)

FOX

9.32

36

Ghost Whisperer

CBS

9.15

37

Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? (9 p.m.)

FOX

8.70

38

"Traveler"

ABC

8.60

39

Law & Order (Fri.)

NBC

8.30

40

Without a Trace (Tue.)

CBS

8.15

41

Medium

NBC

7.91

42

New Adventures of Old Christine

CBS

7.82

43

Jericho

CBS

7.72

44

How I Met Your Mother

CBS

7.69

45

House (Mon.)

FOX

7.48

46

Law & Order (Sat.)

NBC

7.41

47

Family Guy

FOX

7.22

48

The Office

NBC

7.17

49

America's Funniest Home Videos

ABC

7.04

50

48 Hours Mystery

CBS

6.99

51

Law & Order: Criminal Intent

NBC

6.94

My Name Is Earl

NBC

6.94

53

The Simpsons (8:30 p.m.)

FOX

6.86

54

Dateline: NBC (Fri.)

NBC

6.78

55

The Simpsons (8 p.m.)

FOX

6.54

56

Crimetime Saturday (9 p.m.)

CBS

6.42

"Shrek"

NBC

6.42

58

According to Jim (8 p.m.)

ABC

6.35

59

20/20 (10 p.m.)

ABC

6.15

60

Law & Order: SVU (Sat.)

NBC

5.97

61

Crimetime Saturday (8 p.m.)

CBS

5.71

62

Notes From the Underbelly

ABC

5.70

63

American Dad

FOX

5.67

64

Crossing Jordan

NBC

5.34

65

Scrubs

NBC

5.31

66

Thank God You're Here (Wed.)

NBC

5.27

67

Destilando Amor (Mon.)

UNI

5.00

68

Dateline: NBC (Tue.)

NBC

4.98

69

Destilando Amor (Thu.)

UNI

4.96

70

America's Top Model 2 (Wed.)

CW

4.92

71

NBA Playoffs (8:12 p.m.)

ABC

4.91

72

La Fea Más Bella (Mon.)

UNI

4.89

73

Destilando Amor (Tue.)

UNI

4.88

La Fea Más Bella (Wed.)

UNI

4.88

75

Destilando Amor (Wed.)

UNI

4.85

76

Dateline: NBC (Sat.)

NBC

4.82

77

Real Wedding Crashers

NBC

4.77

78

"Fox NASCAR Nextel Pre-Show" (Sat.)

FOX

4.67

79

Destilando Amor (Fri.)

UNI

4.63

80

George Lopez (Tue.)

ABC

4.60

81

Friday Night Smackdown

CW

4.56

82

According to Jim (9 p.m.)

ABC

4.55

83

La Fea Más Bella (Tue.)

UNI

4.42

84

George Lopez (Wed.)

ABC

4.41

85

Cristina

UNI

4.40

86

20/20 (9 p.m.)

ABC

4.34

87

Grey's Anatomy (Fri.)

ABC

4.30

88

La Fea Más Bella (Fri.)

UNI

4.15

La Fea Más Bella (Thu.)

UNI

4.15

90

Gilmore Girls

CW

3.99

91

Cops (8:30 p.m.)

FOX

3.87

92

King of the Hill (7:30 p.m.)

FOX

3.68

93

Dateline: NBC (Sun.)

NBC

3.67

Thank God You're Here (Sun.)

NBC

3.67

95

"Daddy Day Care"

FOX

3.64

96

Cops (9:30 p.m.)

FOX

3.57

97

Cops (9 p.m.)

FOX

3.47

98

Nuestra Belleza (Tue.)

UNI

3.44

99

Smallville

CW

3.43

100

Aqui y Ahora

UNI

3.35

101

Don Francisco Presenta

UNI

3.33

102

7th Heaven (8 p.m.)

CW

3.32

103

Bailando Boda Suenos

UNI

3.23

104

One Tree Hill

CW

2.95

105

King of the Hill (7 p.m.)

FOX

2.90

Supernatural

CW

2.90

107

Girlfriends

CW

2.89

108

Duelo de Pasiones (Wed.)

UNI

2.87

109

Duelo de Pasiones (Thu.)

UNI

2.77

110

Casos Vida

UNI

2.67

111

Duelo de Pasiones (Mon.)

UNI

2.63

112

Duelo de Pasiones (Fri.)

UNI

2.60

113

Duelo de Pasiones (Tue.)

UNI

2.48

Everybody Hates Chris

CW

2.48

115

"NBA Playoffs" (Sat., 8 p.m.)

ABC

2.47

116

All of Us

CW

2.29

117

Sabado Gigante

UNI

1.96

118

Veronica Mars

CW

1.85

119

Futbol Liga Mexicana

UNI

1.70

120

America's Top Model 2 (Sun.)

CW

1.67

121

7th Heaven (7 p.m.)

CW

1.44

122

Dame Chocolate (Mon.)

TEL

1.31

123

Dame Chocolate (Tue.)

TEL

1.29

Dame Chocolate (Wed.)

TEL

1.29

125

Zorro (Tue.)

TEL

1.22

126

Dame Chocolate (Fri.)

TEL

1.18

127

Esclava Isaura (Mon.)

TEL

1.16

128

Zorro (Wed.)

TEL

1.15

129

Zorro (Mon.)

TEL

1.14

130

Esclava Isaura (Tue.)

TEL

1.12

131

Marina (Wed.)

TEL

1.12

132

Marina (Tue.)

TEL

1.10

133

Hora Pico

UNI

1.09

134

Marina (Mon.)

TEL

1.08

135

Zorro (Fri.)

TEL

1.07

136

Cinemundo del Sabado

TEL

1.06

137

Dame Chocolate (Thu.)

TEL

1.03

138

Zorro (Thu.)

TEL

1.01

139

Marina (Fri.)

TEL

1.00

140

Esclava Isaura (Thu.)

TEL

0.95

141

Esclava Isaura (Wed.)

TEL

0.92

142

Esclava Isaura (Fri.)

TEL

0.87

143

Marina (Thu.)

TEL

0.86

144

Cine Nuestro

TEL

0.78

145

Cine Millonario

TEL

0.76

146

Marav Mundo Disney

TEL

0.56

Network averages

Here is the number of viewers (in millions) that each network averaged per hour of prime time, for last week and for the season.